Chapter 171: Chapter 171: The Merchant Trip (2)

The first thing I suspected was, of course, the bomb. They had been gathering Lyon ore from the north for several years.

With my intervention, the Empire had started to pay attention, so it must have become more difficult for them.

But the amount they had gathered before that would still be considerable. Just look at the terror attack during the triumphal ceremony.

And now the north is practically their territory, so it shouldn’t be difficult for them to gather more.

‘It seems like the attack will start soon.’

Even accounting for losses in the war with the west, the Empire’s forces number over 200,000. No matter how many devil worshippers there are, they still can’t match that number.

However, the fact that there’s been no news since the Empress’s assassination shows that it’s not an easy task.

The Empire probably hasn’t been able to pinpoint their exact stronghold. It’s located in a remote area beyond the northern limit line.

Most are also secretly scattered about.

Originally, you can’t wage war without knowing your opponent. The captured devil worshippers probably didn’t open their mouths under torture.

But they will move soon. Because I revealed their identity to the world.

After the rise of the devil worshippers, even in the game, the Empire immediately set out to attack them.

‘They were annihilated though.’

The numbers weren’t the problem. It was the devils the Imperial army faced. It was the war that became the starting point for the Empire’s downfall.

Things may look better now, but we can’t be certain.

An earlier expedition doesn’t change anything. Just because there’s a Sword Master doesn’t mean they can defeat a devil.

Still, it shouldn’t be too late.

Some time has passed since the Empress’s assassination and things have calmed down, but I know the Emperor’s personality.

He’s someone who pays back what he’s suffered in some way.

‘The problem is that we can’t predict it.’

I’m trying to change the future course of the war, but it’s equally dangerous if the Imperial army is caught defenseless.

How much preparation will they do? Well, it’s a waste of time to worry about it right now. I’m not the Emperor after all. I’ll just do what I can.

Anyway, the only thing I could think of that might go into the fruit was a bomb.

Things like coded messages can be transmitted through cloth or by word of mouth. And there’s nothing else to put in.

I was over 90% certain about this without even seeing it directly. And this was quite threatening.

The back of my neck tingles slightly.

‘They’ve used their heads a bit too.’

Fruit, huh. Who would think there’s a bomb inside? They won’t even suspect it.

Erendil’s coming-of-age ceremony. After finishing the ceremony at the Imperial Palace, there will be a procession.

If the fruit explodes right in front of a street stall, could they possibly stop it?

It would be hard to point to the culprit. The merchant group will bring in the fruit and circulate it around the capital a few times.

The stall itself would belong to a devil worshipper, but…

The one detonating it will die the moment the bomb explodes. They don’t fear death.

Even the terror attack at the triumphal ceremony was not at a predictable level. I was able to prevent it solely thanks to Death Avoidance.

But this time, even I wouldn’t have been able to stop it. Because Death Avoidance has a blind spot.

‘The target in danger must be me.’

If I hadn’t discovered anything specific, I was planning to observe from a distance.

I wouldn’t have felt any warning until the moment the bomb exploded.

It’s good that I came back in time for the coming-of-age ceremony. And that I started as a mercenary. It was lucky to be connected with the Blancheot merchant group.

Perhaps because of my question, I could hear Blancheot urgently whispering to Celeb from behind.

-What is it? What’s going on?

-He asked if he could get one of the fruits.

-There wasn’t anything suspicious?

-No. He just said the young one wanted to eat it and asked if he could buy one.

Eavesdropping on their conversation, I approached Aron. Since Blancheot and Celeb were looking this way, I needed to act.

“They say they can’t sell to us because they bought the exact amount.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Aron put on a disappointed face. I shrugged my shoulders.

“Well, I’ll buy you one on the way. I saw they were selling them in the market yesterday too.”

“Ah, you don’t have to do that.”

“You said you wanted to try it. You should at least taste it.”

By now, the merchant group members had finished loading their luggage and were ready to depart. It was now morning. People were starting to fill the streets.

Blancheot approached.

“We’ll depart in 15 minutes. Make sure to take care of any bathroom needs.”

“Ah, then could I quickly go to the market?”

“Why? Because of the fruit?”

“Yes. Since people are starting to move about, I think I might be able to get some.”

Blancheot smiled.

“I see. You’re quite a rare leader. Your subordinates must like you.”

Well, after going this far, I guess they won’t be unnecessarily suspicious. That wasn’t my intention anyway.

I quickly headed to the market. Fortunately, there was someone selling them. It took less than 10 minutes.

“Oh! Ooh! It’s delicious!”

Aron exclaimed. Jofor already knew the taste, so he didn’t have much of a reaction.

Namir tilted his head.

“It doesn’t quite suit my taste, but it’s an interesting flavor.”

It was a fruit with a sweet yet sour taste that could be somewhat divisive. I headed towards the merchant group with the remaining fruit.

It’s slightly bigger than a watermelon. It’s quite a lot for the four of us to eat. And I’m not eating any, so there’s extra.

Blancheot was considerate too. He said we’d leave in 15 minutes, but when I came back with the fruit, he gave us more time.

Each person in the merchant group got a piece too. These people must have tried it before, but they all remembered to say thanks.

“Oh, thank you.”

Blancheot also smiled kindly.

“How is it? Good?”

“Yes. They say it’s delicious.”

“Seems it suits their taste. Well, most people say it’s good. That’s why we came all this way. To sell them in the capital.”

I doubt it. I don’t think they came all this way just to sell them off. Thinking this, I still smiled silently.

“That’s right.”

***

The speed on the return journey noticeably slowed down. I felt laughter bubbling up inside.

Blancheot made excuses that the fruit might get damaged during transport.

Of course, that’s not wrong. But the problem was that the speed had slowed down considerably even accounting for that.

Even though it’s a newly established merchant group, Blancheot merchant group has already traded fruit before.

‘It’s definitely a bomb.’

My thoughts, which were close to 90% certain, moved towards 100%. I wondered if they were worried it might explode by chance.

Even if it doesn’t just explode randomly, you never know. The devil worshippers must have warned to be careful internally too.

Anyway, at this speed, it seemed like it would take about 7 days, unlike the 5 days it took on the way here.

Well, it doesn’t matter.

The reason I was planning to stay in the capital was to investigate the princes and uncover any possible plots, but I’ve already discovered it.

Of course, there were aspects to be cautious about. The devil worshippers and the princes might move separately.

In other words, there might be two schemes ahead of the coming-of-age ceremony.

‘The princes probably won’t easily switch sides like in the game, given that the Empress died because of them.’

Whether the princes defect or not depends on the situation.

To turn the tables in an unfavorable situation, or even in a favorable situation for no reason. It’s hard to jump to conclusions.

They might switch more easily because I revealed their identity. But the possibility is low.

The Imperial Intelligence Agency would have obviously observed the imperial descendants. If it were me, I would have started with internal discipline first.

‘I wonder if Rina is doing well.’

My thoughts drift in another direction. Before coming here, I asked Rina to observe the nobles supporting the princes.

I also set the scope.

I didn’t want her to dig too deep and get into danger. For now, I asked her to look into those I didn’t have time to worry about myself.

I can check when I get back. If nothing comes up, we’ll have to dig deeper.

There were no notable incidents on the way back.

There were no attacks by bandits or criminals. In fact, such things don’t easily happen near the imperial capital.

Nevertheless, requesting escort missions is always insurance to prepare for the unexpected.

In fact, it might be because we were there that no incidents occurred.

‘A mercenary group can always become bandits.’

We encountered a few mercenary groups. If there had been only two escorts, they might have attempted an attack.

Anyway, it was just a bit boring as the travel time increased.

Celeb didn’t approach us either, and neither did we. We just diligently carried out our mission.

Even knowing there’s a bomb inside the fruit, there’s nothing we can do right now.

Recklessly causing a scene would be the worst move. They might be planning something else that I don’t know about.

It’s better to make things happen within a predictable range rather than something unpredictable.

“Pass through.”

Back in Chenarus, the inspection was quite thorough, but the guards didn’t discover the bomb inside the fruit.

We safely arrived at the Blancheot merchant group. The 10-day mission had come to an end.

“You’ve worked hard all this time.”

“It was nothing. We didn’t do much, actually.”

“Isn’t that what all trade is about? Preparing for unexpected situations.”

“Please call us again if you have any work.”

Blancheot laughed heartily.

“Of course. But I wonder if by then, your price might have gone up so much that I can’t afford to call you.”

“You flatter me. Rather, I think Blancheot merchant group will grow bigger?”

“Seeing how well you speak, it seems you’ll soon be hard to find.”

I just smiled faintly.

***

“Boss.”

As I returned to the lodgings and faced my companions, Osten rushed over and called me with a very heavy voice.

It felt serious enough to sense a hint of gravity.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I’ve found the secret of the glowstone.”

“Huh?”

“Come this way for a moment.”

Is there a need to talk separately? What could it be? He spoke so seriously that I couldn’t say anything.

Denif and Mary also had puzzled looks on their faces, as if this was the first they’d heard of it. I followed behind for now.

Osten entered his room, closed the door, and took a deep breath. It was incomprehensible.

I waited calmly. Osten finally opened his mouth.

“There was a reason we couldn’t sense mana from inside.”

“What is it?”

“It’s because of a substance that was only passed down as legend in our Magic Tower. A mana barrier, which only existed in documents and currently can’t be obtained.”

Osten pointed with his finger to the side of the glowstone. There, a very transparent and thin membrane had been peeled off.

“I see. How did you peel this off?”

“I tried splitting the edge very slightly on a hunch. I didn’t actually think it would work, but the investigation wasn’t progressing…”

Come to think of it, now I could sense mana from the glowstone. It was magic beyond my comprehension.

It was clearly Great Magic from the past.

Inside the palm-sized sphere, mana was rotating. The rotating mana converged towards the center.

I felt a subtle sense of déjà vu.

“Can you feel the rotating mana?”

“Yes.”

“It’s similar in form to a magic bomb.”

“Magic bomb?”

So that was the source of the déjà vu. Now that I heard it, the flow of mana did seem similar in some ways. Of course, it wasn’t exactly the same.

There were differences too, like the amount of mana condensed inside being larger and the rotation speed being faster.

I took a step forward to check. Osten hurriedly spoke.

“Be careful. It could explode if you’re not careful.”

“You’re saying this is like a magic bomb? It seems a bit different though?”

“Strictly speaking, it’s not a bomb. The flow of mana rotating inside is opposite to Sancho Lumen’s formula…”

“Simplify it.”

I didn’t have much magical knowledge. Osten, who had been speaking excitedly at my words, nodded with an “ah” of realization.

“Um, to put it simply, it’s the opposite of a magic bomb, fixing the mana inwards to create a feeling similar to the sun.”

I couldn’t understand exactly what he meant, but I could see the mana converging towards the center inside the sphere.

Some of it falls out and rejoins the flow.

I’m not sure how it’s possible. Well, it must be Great Magic from the past since it’s been maintained until now.

“Magic bombs create greater destructive power through the force of dispersing mana. This is the opposite, you can think of it that way.”

“Then isn’t it different from a bomb?”

“No. Now that we’ve peeled off this barrier, we can interfere with it. If we twist this flow just a little, the convergence force will turn into a dispersing force, causing a tremendous explosion.”

Osten continued with a very serious face.

“In other words, it can be used as a bomb?”

This was good news. It’s difficult to obtain magic bombs. It’s hard to divert them too. They’re managed very strictly.

Even if I obtain Lyon ore, it’s difficult for me to create one.

Osten hasn’t made a magic bomb before either, so it would be quite a dangerous process.

It didn’t seem bad. Osten beside me shook his head.

“No. It will be a much more powerful bomb than the magic bomb you’re thinking of. It’s modeled after the sun. Even if its size is small, imagine if the sun exploded…”

Well. It’s hard to imagine. Even when I was on Earth, I wasn’t interested in science.

“How many times more destructive power does it have compared to the magic bombs I know?”

“Ten times? Twenty times? I’m not sure. It could be a hundred times.”

That much? Isn’t that nuclear bomb level? I don’t know. It was beyond what I could imagine.

Hmm. No matter what, it probably isn’t as strong as a nuclear bomb.

That needs uranium and such things. Still, it was dangerous all the same.

“Uh, but is it okay to leave it like this?”

“For now, yes. Even after peeling off the barrier, there wasn’t much change. As long as we don’t interfere, it should maintain a constant state.”

Osten swallowed dryly. Well, he must have felt quite a bit of fear when he first saw this.

But there’s no need to use this right away.

Rather, it should be left for later. It would be good if we could detonate it at the devil worshippers’ stronghold.

‘I should grab a few more from the desert later.’

Of course, there is a problem. Even if it’s not nuclear bomb level, if it’s dozens of times stronger than a magic bomb…

It means the person detonating it will obviously be harmed too.

Should it be used only in a truly dangerous moment? Prepared to die together? Then it should be used against a devil…

At that moment, something suddenly occurred to me. It was a way to use this without being harmed myself.

And the elf Archmage Shahri too.

I was wondering how to deal with her, but with this, couldn’t I kill her in one shot?

Author's Thoughts

Hi everyone, I've completely translated this novel! So, for those who love this novel and wanted to binge read until the last advanced chapter, you can go to my Patreon "Shop" page. There, I have a product in which you can read them with discounted price (basically you get around free 40 advanced chapters) instead of buying them here with normal price. Thank you for the attention!